Creations by our children

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. - Pablo Picasso

Jungle, by Nandagopal- Aquila and Andromeda (2011-12)
The Dream, by Vidhya- Aquila and Andromeda(2011-12)
A Branch of Life, by Isha Sheroff- Aquila and Andromeds(2011-12)
The tree of Life, by Dhrouv Pujari
My adventure with Peter, by Ganesh
What we'd change about our city, By the Aquamarines
Jasiel and Joy, two musicians who happen to be at Poorna!
Once in a Blue Moon - snippets of a 2006-7 newsletter by Poorna children
My Apartment, by Maansi Sharan
Whale, by Samhitha Devaraj
Sunflower, by Shraddha Fatima
Sunflower, by Shooktija Sarasij
Sunflower, by Anvruksha Navle
Ice-cream, by Shanthi Joseph
Insects, by Joy Peter
The Surprise, by Joy Peter
Flies, by Jesudas Joseph
The Curious Bird, by Isabel Ann Vaz
The Crow's Color, by Vidya
Butterfly, by Anusha
Poorna in Yelahanka, by Jayanthi Joseph
The Time Machine, by Jayanthi Joseph
The 16th of August, by Anu Biswas
Television or books, by Amulya
Landscape, by Amulya
Lions, by Amulya
The sea at the seaside, by Dhruva Gowda Storz
Super duper cycle, by Manoj
The happy family, by Prema Mani
A living house, by Anuvruksha Navle
A story about a crow, by Anjan Prasad
Plastic bag, by Anu Biswas
Silver oak, by Jayanthi Joseph
The war, by Navneeth
Foldaway motorcycle, by Varun

Jungle, by Nandagopal

Long long ago I lived in a place called the Jungle. The place was surrounded by lots of trees. There were many wild animals in the Jungle. As usual, on that day too, I went to meet my friends the small animals who lived in the Jungle. Suddenly I heard heavy footsteps behind me as though someone heavy was running after me. Turning around I saw an elephant rushing towards me. On top of the elephant there was a boy. I started running towards my house in the Jungle. But the boy and his elephant caught up with me before I could reach my house and safety. He blocked my path and stared at me. He went on staring at me for a long time. He did not harm me. Then he got down from his elephant and smiled at me. He actually wanted to be my friend. Then he took my hand and led me near the elephant. He whispered something in the elephant’s ear and it took me in its trunk and placed me next to the jungle boy. The elephant started walking with me and the jungle boy on it. The elephant took us to a valley filled with wild flowers. We got down from the elephant and were touching the flowers when we heard a running behind us. We turned to see a Rhino running towards us. The elephant saw the rhino and picked us up and ran. The Rhino was chasing us. It ran so fast and hit the elephant on its back. The elephant lost balance and all of us fell down. The boy went charging at the Rhino as the it had hit his friend. But the Rhino was too strong for the boy and he was pushed off the ground. Now I didn’t know what to do. I tried waking the elephant and finally he could get up. He trumpeted so loud that even the Rhino was quiet for a moment. Then we heard another trumpet, then another and another. Soon there was trumpeting all around. Confused with the sound that was coming in all directions the Rhino got scared and ran away. Unfortunately he was soon surrounded by a herd of elephants and was trampled to death. After that we were never bothered by any other animal. We became great friends and lived happily ever after.

The End
- Nandagopal

The Dream, by Vidhya
Today morning I got up from my bed from a bad dream. Outside it was too noisy. Added to that my mum was shouting at me for sleeping late. The dogs were barking outside. After my breakfast as i was returning to my room to study for my exam I noticed something very odd. All around me the world had gone still and silent. The only noise that I could hear was my mother’s shouting. I started studying my history portion . I was walking and studying when, as I looked out of the window I saw the window pane shivering. There was no noise, just the sound of the window of my room shaking. The shaking became rattling. I ran to tell my mother but she didn’t believe me because no other window was shaking. I went back to me room and when I looked out the block of flats some distance away was crumbling and falling as though in slow motion. I started shaking and an icy hand went up my spine. My eyes started burning and i blacked out. I fought against the blackness and ran down stairs to save my life. As I ran I was shouting for my mother to come out of the house as an earthquake was about to hit us. But she was listening to songs on the mobile and didn’t hear me shout. I was about to go to her when my house started to crumble. A huge piece of roof fell down on me and I screamed in pain and as I looked around I couldn’t find my house. My last thought as I became unconscious was that I had not warned my family about the disaster. I was shaking badly and when I opened my eyes I saw my brother and he asked me to shut up and get up. Was the earthquake only a dream. I find that hard to believe.

The End
- Vidhya

A Branch of Life
Happy endings................
I don’t believe in that, a story never ends no matter how many books you write. You never finish one story.......... Life. It has no sugar coating like how they make you believe in story books. It has its ups and downs (like what our parents say). Not every story has a happy ending. Stories with happy endings are stories that are not yet complete. Not even death can end a story. Death just brings out another branch of the previous story. But this story has a twist, a twist we call life.............
She woke with a start from a loud voice calling her name. She was startled at first but soon reality checked in.
Ahhhh! What a dream.....
“LUCY!!!” a voice roared from the pantry below her room. At once she jumped up and tripped on something on her way to the door. But she hardly noticed. She caught a brief glimpse of herself in the mirror. Glancing back at her was a tall, thin, attractive brunette with hair that hung down like hay and a nose that looked pinched at the corners. “LUCY!!!” . Again that yelling. She sighed and ran down the stairs, skipping two at a time. Life for her was not difficult. But it wasn’t easy either. She earned her income as a waitress and spent all her free time writing. Bolting through the door she saw Mrs. Lancey, her boss, standing near her table with her arms crossed and an expression on her face which she knew only too well.
Something was very definitely wrong..........
“Lucy,” she began softly. “Come sit down and be strong and truthful”. Lucy walked hesitantly towards the table and sat down. “Lucy”, she began again and quietly completed the rest of the sentence. “you have been charged with poisoning a man and this officer here wants to take you to the station to interrogate you.” I was too shocked to speak for a while. Then I blurted out “What! I can’t even kill a bug! Let alone a man!!” she yelled to herself. But outwardly she looked as calm as asking for coffee. The officer cuffed her and led her towards the police car.
This officer had a name. He was David. She had heard about him - a lot. Terrified and mystified at the same time, she stared outside the window, wondering what branch of life was she headed towards now..............

The End
- Isha Sheroff

The tree of Life, by Dhrouv Pujari
Once upon a time, when there was no life on planet Earth, a bolt of lightening hit the water. Then came a little seed. The seed grew in the water and it formed into a plant. The plant grew into a tree. The tree was beyond anything any human could imagine. It was huge in size and very broad. It was also full of life. It had more than a thousand fruits on it and each fruit had a new form of life within it. Every time a fruit opened, a new life form was welcomed into the world.

Every year, the tree grew by one metre. Finally one day it grew large enough to send out a seed from one of its fruits. The seed grew into another tree. But this tree was not like the tree of life. This tree needed birds and animals to transport its seeds all over the world. Each seed grew into a new tree. The new trees made forests. The forests had all sorts of animals in it. Every animal loved the forests because the forests gave life.

Then the tree of life made its biggest mistake. It made humans. The humans started to cut down all other trees to make cities for themselves. All the animals started to run away from the forests. Some of the animals started to die. Then the tree of life decided that it would camouflage itself because it was scared that the humans would cut it down too.

That's why we cant see the tree of life right now. But don't forget that however much we may try to kill everything, the tree of life will create more.

The End
- Dhrouv Pujari

My adventure with Peter, by Ganesh
My name is Ganesh and my friends name is Peter. Once when Peter and I were driving in a car, we saw a space ship with a blue light. We followed the space ship. It landed in a forest. Peter and I took a picture of the space ship. Suddenly, there was a creaky noise. We quickly hid behind a tree. Some aliens came out of the space ship. They gave us a watch and went back inside. On the watch was a button. When we pressed this button, we could choose any tool to kill bad aliens.

The next morning, a huge alien monster came to the city and started destroying it. We immediately thought about the watch the other aliens had given us. When we pressed the button of this watch, we got new suits and new powers. Peter had wind power and I had fire power.

We both went to fight the alien monster. Peter used his powers but the monster did not die. Then I used my powers. But even then, the monster would not die. Then suddenly the friendly aliens who had given us our watch landed their space ship near us. With help from them, we could kill the alien monster.

The friendly aliens then took back their watch and went back to their planet in their space ship.
- Ganesh

What we'd do to change our city, by the Aquamarines
In a recent session of community work, the children from the Aquamarine group were asked to write about any issues that they thought were serious problems to the environment and the people living in Bangalore city, and, if possible, offer solutions or ways of reducing these effects.

Many of them thought that the biggest problem in Bangalore was its traffic and the related issue of cutting of trees to widen roads. Some of the others felt that plastics, garbage disposal in general or the increasing amounts of air pollution were among the most serious problems that the city faced.

Here is a collection of their write ups:

1. Road Widening Projects

The widening of roads in Bangalore must be stopped because it makes people cut trees. Sometimes it destroys houses and foot paths - making it hard for people to live and walk besides the road.

Road widening projects are started to reduce the amount of traffic in the city. We can help in reducing traffic in many ways. We can stop using private vehicles and start car-pooling. Stop vehicles at signals and get your vehicles tuned and repaired. This helps a lot. Try it and make a difference.

- Navneeth

2. Pollution and Plastics

I think the main problem in Bangalore today is the pollution caused by the number of vehicles that we use. This increase in traffic has become such a big problem that by being a part of it, you don't know how many accidents could happen just because of you. We are cutting down so many trees to widen roads and reduce accidents. But if we just reduce the number of vehicles in our city, we can solve so many problems - we can reduce the traffic without losing our precious trees. Either walk or use cycles to travel short distances. For long distances, you could use buses rather than cars or private vehicles.

There is another issue which is causing problems in Bangalore - this is the excessive use of plastics. Using plastic is really harmful to the environment. If it keeps accumulating around us, one day, it will harm us too. Why not start using cloth or paper bags instead of plastic bags? If you use cloth bags or paper bags, they can recycled and reused. If you want your bags to look fashionable, you could paint on it or use other things to decorate it. With cloth bags, you could even use embroidery. When you take such bags along for shopping, you will feel really proud to say that " I decorated this bag by myself."!

- Prema

3. Bangalore's Garbage

I think the biggest problem in Bangalore is its garbage disposal system. Corporation people come to collect garbage from each house. They start their rounds of collection from as early as 7am in the morning. But no one wants to get up and keep their dustbins in front of their doors or gates.

Many people throw their garbage on the roads. This makes the roads dirty and it smells a lot too. Even the corporation people don't like cleaning this up.

I think that we must have dustbins for each street and people should dump all their garbage into these bins so that they can be cleaned up properly.

- Rahul

4. Road Widening

Don't you think that this winter is far colder than ever before? Well, I do!

This is directly related to all the road widening projects in the city. When we widen roads, we have to cut down trees on either side of the road., The trees keep the city cool in summer and warm in winter. With no trees, winters become much colder and summers much hotter! Also, leaves of trees normally sop up much of the UV rays from the sun. These rays are harmful to the skin. Cutting of trees leaves us less protected against their effects.

When we widen roads, do we even spare one thought for all those people who have their shops on the sides of the roads? What will happen to them? Businesses which families have run for years will die out because their buildings will be broken down.

If that doesn't convince you, think about all the asthmatics in the city who suffer more from the effects of pollution in the absence of trees in the city.

If you are moved by my essay, all you have to do is to start a google search on environmental support groups in Bangalore and join them!

-Amala

5. Widening of Roads

I think widening of roads is the biggest problem in Bangalore. This is because every time we widen a road, we cut down a lot of trees. Cutting down trees increases the rate of global warming on Earth.

I think we can reduce global warming by balancing the process of widening roads by planting a lot of trees. In that way, we will be able to reduce effects of traffic but not lose trees in the city.

- Vidith.

6. Air pollution

I think one of the biggest issues that causes inconvenience to people is air pollution.

Air pollution is caused by all the gases emitted by vehicles, industries and the burning of garbage wastes or plastics.

These gases can cause a lot of environmental and health problems. For example, they deplete the ozone layer causing climate changes and global warming. They cause many diseases related to breathing such as asthma.

You can reduce air pollution by reducing the use of private vehicles. Use public modes of transport more frequently. Cut down on burning wastes and recycle as much of it as possible. Reduce the use of plastics because burning of plastics produces many harmful gases.

By small steps like this, we can reduce air pollution in the city.

- Rasika

7. Bangalore traffic

The traffic situation in Bangalore is horrendous. The other day, there was a traffic jam because of a political rally and it took hours to cover a distance of merely 2-3 kilometres. Even on normal days, the traffic isn't much better. There are too many one-ways and traffic signals, slowing down the traffic. Simultaneously, there is a Metro rail project coming up - with work for it starting all over the city and eating up into road space.

Overall, it takes ages to reach anywhere so I'd rather just sit at home. I'm sure this problem is also polluting the environment because so many cars on the streets have just one person travelling. Big cars like the Innova are a menace. We are losing out on fuel here, people! Fuel is a non-renewable resource.

- Kabir

8. Bad Driving!

Half of the traffic problems in Bangalore are due to bad driving. This leads to more accidents. If the traffic is more disciplined, there are less problems. Even time spent in travelling is saved. There should be very heavy punishment for people who break traffic rules. Only then will the traffic be more disciplined.

I really hope that people will start obeying traffic rules more strictly.

- Varun

9. Plastics!

I think one of the most disturbing things in Bangalore is the amount of plastic waste in the city. In fact this is a problem not just in Bangalore but also in the whole world.

Plastics are defined as man made materials that can be shaped in almost any form. In many ways they are considered to be one of the most useful materials created. Our homes, schools and businesses use many plastic products. The growth of industries in any nation depends on a plentiful supply of petroleum. Plastics are one of the products obtained by processing of petroleum. Some of the largest producers of plastics are industrial nations like the United States and Japan.

As more and more consumers package their goods in plastic, more plastic waste is generated. We throw tonnes of plastic everyday! These plastics don't break down easily, so they contribute in a large way to environmental pollution. Cows and other animals choke because of plastic bags. Recently, there have been attempts to reduce the effects of plastic by recycling them. But I think we should try our best to cut down on our usage of plastics.

- Aastha

10. Say NO to plastics!

Plastic is a harmful substance. Its used almost everywhere and for everything - making plastic bags, plastic utensils, plastic chairs, plastic this and plastic that! I must admit it is very useful, convenient and cheap but how is plastic disposed? Because plastic cant always be re-used!

Plastics are usually just dumped along with other wastes in any vacant plot of land. Quite often, plastics are just burnt to get rid of them. But the fumes released from burning of plastics increase pollution. This is because plastics are made of hydrocarbons and when burnt release poisonous fumes called polyvinyl carbonates. Some of these fumes cause cancer and sometimes even lead to birth defects.

The other alternative - dumping plastics somewhere far away from the city is also not a very good plan. Mainly because cities are developing so fast that its hard to find a place "far enough from the city". In fact, quite often, people's homes are destroyed for "plastic dumping space". The people who suffer most because of this trend are those who cant afford to live in big homes and so live close to dumping grounds in slums.

All of these problems are caused by our carelessness. We use a lot of plastic.

We must make an effort to say NO to plastics! Difficult but we could start in small ways. Like refuse to use plastic bags. Instead, use alternatives like cloth or paper bags and carry these bags along when you go shopping. A sturdy cloth or jute bag might be very handy if you are shopping for things that are really heavy. These bags are fashionable too.

Plastic wastes are not a major issue currently, but at the rate at which we are piling up plastics, it could become a major issue in the future. We can stop this from happening by making a difference today.

An organisation in Auroville called Upasana is taking small steps to make a difference. They make cloth bags from bits and pieces of cloth that would normally be wasted. These bags can be compacted to mobile sized pouches which are convenient to carry around. When opened out, they are large in size and pretty.

Hopefully, this write-up encourages you to say NO to plastics. So say NO, take these small steps, create an awareness about the effects of plastic among all the people you know and help make a difference!

- Manisha

11. Environmental issues and inconvenience!

There are a whole lot of interconnected things that damage the environment and are inconvenient to people. One example of this is the way in which the increasing traffic and the cutting of trees in Bangalore are inter-linked.

There have been a whole lot of really bad traffic jams lately. To cut down on these jams and improve road conditions, the government has started lots of projects for widening of roads and building fly-overs. But because these projects take a lot of time to complete, most of the space on roads gets used up and this makes jams more frequent! So, technically, the government's solution to the increasing traffic is itself making road conditions in the city worse!

Then there is the cutting of trees! All over Bangalore, very very ancient trees are being chopped off. I have lived in Bangalore since I was a kid and it feels miserable to not be able to recognise roads which used to once be shady and canopied! Its saddening to see a big tree stump where a tree once used to be. It seems so easy to cut a tree! "So what is its been there for a hundred years? So what if it gives us oxygen? There are so many other trees! A few trees don't matter. Lets just take our chainsaws and chop them off!" Easy as that! That's what really puts me off. Bangalore was once known as the green city, the garden city. There are still many trees in this city compared to many other cities, but this number is reducing every single day. Bangalore used to naturally air-conditioned but now it is the country's biggest A/C market! And how many ever protests or rallies happen, how many ever awareness programs happen, it doesn't make a difference! People just want trees cut down so that they have bigger roads and don't get stuck in jams - when jams are caused because there are so many people and so many vehicles!

Another thing is the climate change in the city. Trees give shade and help in the water cycle. Now that they being cut in such large numbers, the damaging effects are adding up and causing changes in the climate. The increasing traffic is producing many pollutants. The road widening projects are increasing jams. With no trees, the harmful effects of pollutants increase.

So all these things are not only inter-linked but also in the form of a cycle! Like a ring of dominoes, one thing triggers of another and when one cycle is complete, it starts all over again, worsening things by one more step.
- Shivani

My Apartment, by Maansi Sharan, 11 years

I live in an apartment. In my apartment there are three floors and one basement. In the basement there are seven cars, some bikes and some bicycles. In the basement there is a small house where the watchman lives. There are two small puppies which keep barking all day and sometimes in the night. I live right at the top. There is a lift which people use every time. There was a shop in front of my apartment but now there is a building coming up in its place. In front of my apartment there is a huge log and the watchman's son goes and sits on it with the puppies and has a good time. There are many kids playing in the apartment. Sometimes they ring the door bell and run away. There is a small garden and many potted plants. There are many coconut trees and in the trees there are many squirrels.

Whale, by Samhitha Devaraj, 5 years

"One day there was water. In this water there was a whale. The whale was very good. One day the whale was talking with her friend. She was telling some secrets and the whale swam away."

Sunflower, by Shraddha Fatima, 5 years

"The sunflower is next to my house. Someone plucked the flower. My flower is broken. I can plant another one."

Sunflower, by Shooktija Sarasij, 6 years>

"The sunflower is my favourite flower. One day butterfly came. The butterfly drank the nectar. Flower got sad and butterfly also got sad. The butterfly went to home and the butterfly slept."

Sunflower, by Anuvruksha Navle, 5 years

"The sunflower is nice. It is yellow. I like the flower. The sunflower is big. The end."

Ice-cream, by Shanthi Joseph, 11 years
Ice-cream Ice-cream,
You and me want ice-cream,
Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Butterscotch,
Chocolate in a cone,
Vanilla on top of that,
Strawberry on top of vanilla,
Yummy yummy my tummy is hungry
Butterscotch on top of strawberry,
Vanilla underneath,
Which is on top of chocolate,
Which is in a cone!

Insects, by Joy Peter, 8 years
Butterfly! Butterfly!

Fly as high as the birds,

Starts with butter and ends with fly,

It is so beautiful and powdery,

That is why it starts with butter and ends with fly

My butterfly

The Surprise, by Joy Peter, 8 years
One day when i got very thirsty, i ran into my house and went inside my room, I opened the kitchen door and looked out of the window, i saw a small little bag jumping up and down, I quickly drank water and opened the back door and ran to the slushy road. I poked the bag and it poked me, so i quickly picked it up and opened it but how disappointing, it was my little sister.

Flies, by Jesudas Joseph, 9 years
Here, there, everywhere,

On your juice

Under your nose

Sometimes sucking nectar

Even now they live

Flying everywhere

Little they care

You might see them everywhere!

The Curious Bird, by Isabel Ann Vaz, 8 years
Once there was a bird who had very short feathers and was very curious. She wanted to know everything. Once she asked her mother, "what does Mrs. Cat have for dinner?" Her mother got angry and hushed her to sleep quickly. The next day the little bird set off to find out what the cat ate for dinner. But she did not know what she looked like....

Finally she found something lurking in the bushes. It had pointy ears, whiskers and short fur, it was the cat. Suddenly the cat caught the bird and pulled her feathers and the feathers became longer and longer- thinner and thinner. Then the cat let go and the bird hurridly flew back home. When she reached home, as you can guess she wasn't as curious. And she was called...

Cautious Cinda!

The crow's color, by Vidya, 10 years
One day there was a crow. the crow was very angry because he didn't like his color. But his friend's color was so nice and he asked, "can you please give your color to me?" His friend told no, why should i give you the color. He went to his old house and the he opened the door and he went inside the house and suddenly the door closed and then inside there were beautiful paints. He suddenly jumped into the blue paint then he was blue color and again he jumped into the green color and then he was blue and green in color and he happily went to his new house.
The end

Butterfly, by Anusha, 12 years
Butterflies are a beauty

They also look so pretty

They fly around

Everywhere with

Their wings,

Here and there

Poorna in Yelahanka, by Jayanthi Joseph, 13 years
Our new school building is in Yelahanka, near DPS. It is an H shaped building with two floors. The top floor is the senior's, (Nile, Zambezi, Congo and Colorado) it also contains the lab, library and teacher's room. The ground floor hosts the remedial classroom, office, kitchen, bathroom, the Sindhu, Bramaputra and Narmada classes. The walls are made out of cement and bricks. The bricks are exposed and it looks very nice and eco-friendly. The upper classrooms have tiled roofs and three walls. There are four terraces on the top floor. There are three ponds that are filled with rainwater collected from the rest of the building. The design is unique.

Problems arise each day and are quickly solved. The small classes are flooded often, the drain in the toilets are on slopes, the library was flooded the blackboards need another coat of paint. All these problems are solved quickly by the architect. We help to keep our campus clean by sweeping our classes and taking turns to clean the toilets.

School is surrounded by lantana bushes, a variety of small trees not to mention the thorny shrubs. We have lantana berry wars and we play squash in the empty cement pond. Once when the tank filled with water we dropped the ball in and had to wade in to get it. When we sit on the grass we discover microscopic plants, decorated with bright fruits, flowers and insects.

It is nice to be free from rent and cranky landlords. There is no Vearana who switches of the electricity and stops up our water supply. We feel free and joyful but, our minds whirl with trying to adjust to new surroundings. The new building is wonderful.

The Time Machine, by Jayanthi Joseph, 14 years
The hut clung to the edge of the precipice like a barnacle to a rock. A sharp wind rushed along the never ending mountain range, its icy fingers caressing the snow-capped peaks as the sun dropped down behind them. Something was about to happen. Something extraordinary...

Kate was writing a book. To be precise, writing a murder mystery. Crouching on a mat with a worn notebook was not her favorite way to write. She just couldn't put her words together, the blank page stared at her hour after hour, "Writer's Block," she thought grimly. “I should get some sleep.” She was just about get herself a drink when a blood curdling scream stabbed the quiet night. Kate froze, paralyzed with fear. A ripple of blue light accompanied the scream and lit the whole mountain up for a brilliant moment

A cascade of snowy pebbles turned her attention outside, a small rusty cone was rising slowly from behind the window sill, it resembled the peak of a mountain. Kate stared at the growing spike with bated breath and crept away from the open window. A head appeared next and grinned at her. A suit of Armour followed and unsuccessfully tried to push itself through the window. "I'm being attacked by a medieval knight!" was the only thought that Kate had as she ran for her life, down the side of the mountain. The knight in the suit of armour tried to chase her with a metallic squeak, but to his immense disappointment, found that he was hopelessly stuck.

Kate kicked the door open and raced down the mountain, blood pumped full of adrenaline, dodging trees as she went. A lady draped in billowing robes appeared suddenly from behind a pile of snow and before Kate could alter her course, they collided and rolled down the hill. They landed in a tangle at the bottom of a slippery ravine, and were covered with slush. The lady stood up shakily and pushed Kate into a hole at the base of a boulder and leaped in after her. They both glared suspiciously at each other, both unsure of what to do. Kate eventually drifted into a restless sleep, in the short periods of consciousness, she noticed that the strange lady was lying near the entrance. Wind began to blow snow onto Kate's face, she woke up, crawled as far away from the lady as she could and tried to recollect what had happened. The last thing she remembered was the Knight flying by, after that everything was lost in the indistinct shadows of her mind. The lady stirred and limped over to Kate. She motioned towards the hole and said "Come!" in a hoarse whisper. Kate wondered at this but remained silent. The lady seemed like a character out of one of her books and Kate was surprised when she hoisted herself out of the hole easily and beckoned once more for Kate to follow. Kate struggled out of the hole, grasping damp rocks for support.

About half a kilometre up the mountain; hidden by a row of trees stood an edifice, hewn out of the rocky mountain face. A large sign read 'WARNING quantum physics laboratory, ENTER AT OWN RISK!' "Well that's comforting," thought Kate sarcastically. They passed underneath a granite archway and were greeted by a disheveled scientist who was giggling uncontrollably.. In the corner of the room, a telephone booth was propped up against the wall. Someone had scraped of the 'telephone' and written 'Time Machine' in its place. The scientist composed himself and frowned, scratching his prematurely bald head with a tuning fork. He then began to explain how his machine worked. "Dial the year on the phone's number pad and lift the receiver. Then my dear, THEN the magnificent machine will transport you to your specified year" Kate grimaced unintentionally, a queer smell was wafting through the room, it reminded her of a rotten mango.. The physicist continued "Don't you worry! It works like a dream. The first time, it brought a medieval knight to our time, complete with a mace and broadsword. In fact you can examine the broadsword yourself!" Gingerly, he handed Kate the razor sharp sword. Kate grasped the handle firmly and inspected the shiny blade carefully.

Suddenly the door burst open, the knight had arrived to get back his sword! He saw he trio immediately and charged, swinging his mace madly through the air. Kate ran into the phone booth and frantically barred the door with the sword, the sharp metal shaved flakes of plastic of the handle as she struggled to bolt the door. She knew that the only way out would be to travel through time to safety -that is- if the machine really worked! She dialed 2000 with shaking hands and grabbed the receiver, just as the knight hit the fragile glass with his mace. She screamed, terrified as the glass shattered , pain seared like fire through every cell of her body. Blue light washed over everything and splinters of glass showered over them all. All the people in the room seemed to be frozen in mid-air as the light passed over them,
her eyes closed and she lost consciousness.

Kate woke with a jerk and sent her notebook sprawling to the floor. The pain had vanished. A gentle breeze blew through the window, ruffling her hair. Her alarm buzzed to life, "6:30". Her eyes were heavy with sleep and her thoughts were as slow as lethargic pythons. Then in a fraction of a second it all came back to her. She realised the her 'Writer's block' had gone. She retrieved her notebook, shut the window and began to write. When she had finished the last chapter, she looked down and noticed a small shard of glass embedded in her sweater.

The 16th of August, by Anu Biswas, 13 years
The sixteenth of August marks a huge day in Poorna's existence. From the school's humble beginnings at Indira's house, with only six children, to the rented out campus in Sahakarnagar, we never had a school that we could call completely ours. We never had the freedom to make a new structure or grow so many plants, but with the coming of August 16 th, we'll be moving to our new school campus! Of course, it isn't huge, with the best of facilities. But since Ali uncle's farm is next door, we can always borrow some land for a football pitch or basketball court. The new building is a more interesting building with open bricks and two floors (imagine!). We have also been promised the freedom to make murals on the wall.

Preparing for inauguration day is hectic, the senior classes being run to the bone, making invitation cards, folding, drawing, writing. The music group has been working hard with daily rehersals and after-school practices as well! And all this with one days notice! We are also getting cardboard boxes to school to pack all the library books. For some of us who've been here long and lived a good portion of our lives on the current campus, the new school sounds amazing, almost impossible, the preparations being made leave no traces of doubt as to the existence of the new school. Afternoons of writing invitations on miniscule bits of paper have made some of us dream about silver writing on green bits of paper, singing practice has songs stuck in our heads long after practice.

In short, we are extremely busy and extremely excited about the shift. Even the teachers have stopped taking classes, to help organize the inauguration ceremony. But for now, there is nothing we can do except work hard and count down the days.

Television or books, by Amulya, 14 years
I won't be a hypocrite and say 'I hardly watch TV," but the truth is I watch a tremendous amount of TV, much more than the norm. I don't read a lot of books because it reminds me of school and school reminds me of studies, which I am sorry to say I do not fancy. Some may say books have a lot of knowledge and increase your reading skills but TV increases your knowledge too. There are so many educational channels like National Geographic, Discovery channel and History channel.

I do agree that while reading story books we also use a lot of imagination, especially with science fiction and fiction stories. Books and stories like these help people think out of the box. While reading, a person uses more of his\her brain than just staring at the TV, so people tend to get lazy and sluggish if they watch a lot of TV. These days TVs are very common in almost each and every home thus people get addicted because they don't want to miss that very interesting soap-opera or that brand new movie or that hip and happening new song on MTV that everyone is talking about.

Books are taken for granted because they are just left in corners of rooms, waiting to be read and accumulating dust. Unlike the stuff which is shown on TV which is hardly repeated. Another problem is that people avoid reading the classics or famous books which take two to three days to read because they know that the book is anyway going to be made into a two or three hour movie by a film maker who has just run out of ideas. The film maker takes a story and doesn't always make its movie as good as the book. Examples of these kinds of books I didn't even bother to read are Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Exorcist and many more.

Finally the decision is left to the person, if he\she wants to read a book and visualize the contents or watch Tv and get the contents given to you on a platter. I do envy the people who have the patience to read a thick book and don't go to asleep after reading the first chapter. You(reader) might be wondering why I don't start reading more than my text books, magazines and my comics? And to that my dear reader, even I don't have the answer. (*LOL)

*Laugh out loud

Landscape, by Amulya age 15

Lions, by Amulya age 15

The sea at the seaside, by Dhruva Gowda Storz, 7 years 2 months
Once I went to Kundhapur in a bus with my friends and my mother and my father. We stopped at Hotel Sharon and we ate plain dosas. And then one man came and took us away in a taxi. We stopped at a house. Then one small puppy and a big white dog came. The small puppy's name was Putti and the big dog's name was Malathi. We saw another big dog, but we didn't know its name. So we called it Duggi.

The sea was only 18 metres away from the house. We went swimming and in the evening the girl called Maya, came. The next morning she was scared to go into the water. She had some beach tools and she played on the beach. My mother came swimming only sometimes. My friend and I were pushing Putti onto her back.

The next evening, we went out to a fish shop and we bought live crabs! We had to kill them for eating them. The house was very big and nice. The next morning we went to a place called Turtle Bay. The ownver uncle had seen a man put a hook through a turtle and was taking it home. The owner uncle took out the hook, made the turtle well and put it in a bucket. A few days after this incident we had come to Turtle Bay. The uncle called us for dinner. There we ate some squid. Then the uncle showed us his turtle. It was just like Kanishka's turtle. It was sticking its nose out of water. There wqas a stone in the water and the turtle was stretching its neck out of the water like Kanishka's turtle.

We swam in Turtle Bay. I got out of the water and I saw a high rock with snails under sea shells. The sea shells were round and rectangular. They had round patterns on them. It was skipping on the water because of my water Pokemon tattoos. My friend tried to skip but he was always falling and drowning in the water. We went back from Turtle Bay to the house and we swam in the sea. I was drinking some salt water everyday while I was swimming.

Much before the whole story, I left my dog Nayika, in my aunt's house and we went to Kundhapur.

Super duper cycle, by Manoj, 7 years 7 months
One day John went to a cycle shop. He bought a new cycle. He brought it to his house. He went for a ride and he had lots of fun. He left his hands and it still went on its own. Then it spoke to him. Now John had a new friend. He went back home and told his parents the story. He was happy forever

The happy family, by Prema Mani, 9 years 9 months
Once upon a time there lived a woman called Rathika who had a baby. She was very poor because her husband had left her and had gone with someone else. He had left her because he thought that she was not pretty. Rathika had a little money. She had two hundred rupees. She thought that if she bought any food for her baby and for herself that day then she wouldn't have any food for the next day. So she decided to work and earn some money. One fine day when she was looking for work a man came to her and said, "You look very beautiful, will you marry me?" Rathika didn't say anything because she was too busy thinking about what she could do. Then the man screamed at her and repeated the question. She said, "Mmmmm, okay, but when shall we marry?" The man said "Today". Rathika thought again. Then she said "okay." They got married. Now the baby has another father. His name is Raja. He is very kind and he loves his wife and his baby. They are now living happily.

A living house, by Anuvruksha Navle, 4 years 8 months
Once upon a time there lived a crow who was always hungry and thirsty and foolish. Then the thirsty crow was having a bath in the living house. One day he was found dead in the living house. Then the living house was upset and it threw the crow outside and cleaned up. And next to is is Jakkur Airport.

A story about a crow, by Anjan Prasad, 4 years
There one day lived a crow a sleepy, sleeper, sleeping crow. A lion pass by and scared the crow and it fly far far far away. Suddenly a train passing by dashed the crow and it died and train pass over it. The gate was closed because the train is coming fast. People have to wait for the train to go to the station. Then the gate opens the man ask all to go up and down. In the station front a car broke down and mechanic was repairing. Then when car is fixed and he says thankyou to mechanic. Mechanic is an important man, very very big man also and he told the man to be careful and not again break down the car. My story.

Plastic bag, by Anu Biswas, 12 years

A fish swims

Clean water, breathes

Breathes, lives

Look up! See the sun

Through a film of clear, pure water…

Suddenly killed

By black.

Swim upward

The black is a patch

A patch of night fell on the pond

Before the fish can investigate

The patch of night has moved

It rustles, water rolls off it

It can hold a fish inside it!

The lake is now covered with night

Bags of many colours

Fill the once-clean lake

As the fish struggles

Slowly,

Slowly dies.

Silver Oak, by Jayanthi Joseph, 12 years

The silver oaks

Are doomed to the saw!

They are on the wrong side of the

Of the chalk powder line!

They gave us shade

Held monkeys

Gave resin and oxygen.

The leaves disturbed our garden

By choking the small plants,

But eventually they helped.

We ate our lunch, showered

With pokey leaves.

The nectar of the bright blossoms

Tasted good.

I’m going to miss

Those old trees a lot!

But the road is to be

Widened by a metre or so

Our school was always thin

But now it will soon be

Thinner!

I don’t know where we will go

To get the pokey leaves to stick

On projects and displays

In a week or so –

Goodbye silver-leaved oaks!

The war, by Navneeth
I lived in a village called Baha -Halli and my name is Sheshash. One day I was having a chariot race with my friends (the challenge was that who ever wins gets a gold coin). It was the last lap and in a few steps I thought I would win so I closed my eyes and then finally I won the gold coin.

After some time I went home, ate my dinner and slept. Suddenly I heard loud screams coming from a battle field so I went to investigate. When I saw the amount of people dead on the ground I knew that they were from our village.The next morning I went to the gramani and asked "Why was there a war yesterday?". He said "Because another gramani gave me those two tasks.The first first one was the war and the other one is a chariot racing competition.We have lost the war and now we have no chance of defeating them in chariot racing." I said "I may have a chance of defeating them". "So be it. We will dress you up as a chariot racer" said the gramani.

That night I was all ready with my horse. I then went to the starting line and the referee said "This match is a 5 lapped race. So then on your mark,ready and GO!!". I was already in the lead and my opponent was far behind. After 3 laps everything was going fine and I thought that I would win until one of my horses hooves came out so it slowed me down a bit.

Finally me and my opponent were in the last lap, again another hoof came out. So it slowed me down even more. Soon the match had finished and it was a draw. The other gramani kindly came and told me "You are the winner and I declare you as the winner."

The next day the whole village congratulated me and called me the future baha-halli gramani. I was really happy and proud.

Foldaway motorcycle, by Varun
This motorcycle is useful. The seat and handlebars fold away so you can easily carry it in the trunk of a car.When you want to ride you unfold them.